Festival of Flowers Olympic - June 2012
It was a rainy day and I got off course on the swim, coming out of the water behind where I'd hoped to be (time-wise) but still managed to emerge in 3rd place. I got passed by Chris Olson early in the ride which bumped me back to 4th. I then passed #2 out of the water moving me back up to 3rd. He stayed with me and then passed me back! We can into T2 together and would have to fight for the 3rd place podium spot on the 10k run as the other two guys were a little out of reach barring a catastrophic blow-up. I was out of T2 first but he was right on my heels (picture above). We ran that way for about 1.25 miles until he passed me, but I didn't let him go and ran on his shoulder through the turn around at 5k. I noticed he was struggling on the uphills so I attacked hard on the final hill near mile 4 and got a sizeable gap. I proceeded to push hard and gained 36 sec over the next 2 miles, securing 3rd place. It was the selection race for 2013 Best of the US race so the top 3 guys and girls got the invite. I'm not sure if I'll put it on the race calendar next year or not. I didn't crash my bike and break a rib this year so it's all good. Results: http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_results&id=2968
Tri the Midland - June 2012
I've never really raced well here for some reason. I came out of the water in a good spot but had a pretty slow T1. The bike was hard as always. The run was extremely hot and hard as always with the massively long hill up to the turn around. The result was 3rd place again: http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_results&id=2979
Tom Hoskins Memorial Triathlon - July 2012
I only use 1 eye after a bad swim
This is a fun little local race out of the YMCA in Irmo. I was the first to go off in the time trial start. I had a horrible swim nearly hyperventallating and took a fist to the google which meant I had to stand up in the pool and fix it ... that's a first. I hammered the bike and built a solid lead. I ran hard the first half of the run to the turn around where I was able to get an assessment on my lead. I didn't feel compelled to suffer too badly on the return trip and finished in 1st place with a 1.5min lead over my next competitor. Results: http://www.onthemarksports.com/results/2012/2012_07_28_oa.htm
After the Tom Hoskins race I developed a bad case of tendonitis in both my lower legs and one ankle. It's taken me until now to shake it, nearly 2 months. I'm coming back into form now and started my build up to ironman Cozumel 2 weeks ago (10 weeks out).
My next race is this weekend at the Dam Tri, a "sprinternational". This will be a new distance for me (1000m/21m/7k) and will be a good test of fitness. 2 weeks later is the state series finale at Hickory Knob International with the fun banquet that evening where hopefully I'll pick up a decent check. But the main focus right now is getting the work done for Cozumel over the next 8 weeks which means I will be a very tired boy!
